Playing Favorites

The MTA has given a nod, but a very small nod, to the controversial planned train from lower Manhattan to JFK–a favorite of downtown leaders that is still searching for a sugar daddy–in the $2.9 billion bond act that will appear on the ballot this November.

The wording of the bond act is a always a bit of a wrestling match, because different political leaders have different pet projects in mind for the M.T.A.

In an agreement reached last night, $1.45 billion will go to the MTA, including just $100 million for the rail link. (The MTA has pledged $400 million to the $6 billion project–but hasn’t specified where the money would come from.)

Tied for first place, with $450 million each, are the Second Avenue subway line, an LIRR tunnel into Grand Central, a.k.a. “East Side Access,” and general “core infrastructure needs.” The question is, will voters buy it?

Oh, and: The above picture is the “first artist’s rendering” of what the train will look like. We bet it will look less like a 1920’s French travel poster than this, though.